The Companys precast concrete products are cast in manufacturing facilities and
delivered to a site for installation, as contrasted to ready-mix concrete, which
is produced offsite in a “batch plant,”and delivered with a concrete
mixer truck where it is mixed and delivered to a construction site to be poured
and set at the site. Precast concrete products are used primarily as parts of
buildings or highway structures, and may be used architecturally, as in a decorative
wall of a building. Structural uses include building walls, frames, floors, or
roofs. The Company currently manufactures and sells a wide variety of products
for use in the construction, transportation and utility industries.
Easi-Set SlenderWall™ Lightweight Construction Panels
The SlenderWall™ system is a prefabricated, energy-efficient, lightweight
exterior cladding system that is offered as a cost-effective alternative to
the traditional cladding used for the exterior walls of buildings. The Companys
SlenderWall system combines the essential components of a wall system into a
single panel ready for interior dry wall mounting immediately upon installation.
The base components of each SlenderWall™ panel consists of a galvanized
or stainless steel stud frame with an exterior surface of approximately two-inch
thick, PVA fiber reinforced, high-density, precast concrete (with integral water
repellent) and various architectural surfaces. The exterior architectural concrete
facing is attached to the interior steel frame by use of coated stainless steel
headed anchors that position the exterior concrete approximately one-half inch
away from the steel frame.
SlenderWall™ panels are approximately one-third the weight of traditional
precast concrete walls of equivalent size, permanence and durability, and are
also significantly improved as to permanence and durability. The lighter weight
translates into reduced construction costs resulting from less onerous structural
and foundation requirements as well as lower shipping costs. Additional savings
result from reduced installation time and ease of erection and from the use
of smaller cranes for installation. Closed-cell foam insulation and windows
can be plant-installed further reducing cost and construction schedules.
The Company custom designs, manufactures, installs and licenses the SlenderWall™
exterior cladding system. The exterior of the SlenderWall™ system can
be produced in a variety of attractive architectural finishes, such as concrete,
exposed stone, granite or thin brick.
Easi-Set Sierra Wall™
The Easi-Set Sierra Wall™ ("Sierra Wall") combines the strength
and durability of precast concrete with a variety of finishes to provide an
effective and attractive sound and sight barrier for use alongside highways
around residential, industrial, and commercial properties. With additional reinforcement,
Sierra Wall™ can also be used as a retaining wall to retain earth in both
highway and residential construction. Sierra Wall™ is typically constructed
of four-inch thick, steel-reinforced concrete panels with an integral column
creating a tongue and groove connection system. This tongue and groove connection
system and its foundation connection make Sierra Wall™ easy to install
and move if boundaries change or highways are relocated after the completion
of a project. The newly patented Sierra Wall II one-piece extended post and
panel design reduces installation time and cost.
The Company custom designs and manufactures Sierra Wall™ components to
conform to the specifications provided by the contractor. The width, height,
strength, and exterior finish of each wall varies depending upon the terrain
and application. The Company also produces generic post and panel design sound
barrier wall systems. These systems are constructed of steel or precast concrete
columns (the Company manufactures the prestressed columns) with precast concrete
panels which slide down into the groove in each column.
Sierra Wall™ is used primarily for highway projects as a noise barrier
as well as for residential purposes, such as privacy walls between homes, security
walls or windbreaks, and for industrial or commercial purposes, such as to screen
and protect shopping centers, industrial operations, institutions or highways.
The variety of available finishes enables the Company to blend the Sierra Wall™
with local architecture, creating an attractive, as well as functional, barrier.
Easi-Set J-J Hooks® Highway Safety Barrier
The Easi-Set J-J Hooks® highway safety barriers (the "J-J Hooks Barriers")
are crash-tested (privately funded), positively connected, safety barriers that
the Company sells, rents, delivers, installs and licenses for use on roadways
to separate lanes of traffic, either temporarily (free-standing, bolted, or
pinned) for construction work zone purposes or permanently for traffic control.
Barriers are deemed to be positively connected when the connectors on each end
of the barrier sections are interlocked with one another. J-J Hooks Barriers
interlock without the need for a separate locking device. The primary advantage
of a positive connection is that a barrier with such a connection can withstand
vehicle crashes at higher speeds without separating. The Federal Highway Administration
(the "FHWA") requires that states use only positively connected barriers,
which meet NCHRP-350 or MASH crash test requirements. J-J Hooks Barriers meet
NCHRP-350 and MASH TL3 requirements and are approved by the FHWA. In November
2009, the Company was issued a patent which contains deflection limitation blocks
which improve the J-J Hooks connection performance and has a patent pending
on the bolt pocket steel reinforcement.
The Company has received “design protection” of the “end
taper” on each end of the barrier sections and the “J-Hook”
in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. If successful, these
features cannot be copied by others. The United States has issued a "trade
dress" registration for the "end taper" design feature.
The proprietary feature of J-J Hooks Barriers is the design of its positive
connection. Protruding from each end of a J-J Hooks Barrier section is a fabricated
bent steel connector; rolled in toward the end of the barrier, it resembles
the letter "J" when viewed from directly above. The connector protruding
from each end of the barrier is rolled identically so that when one end of a
barrier faces the end of another, the resulting "hooks" face each
other. To connect one section of a J-J Hooks Barrier to another, a contractor
merely positions the hook of an elevated section of the barrier above the hook
of a set section and lowers the elevated section into place. The positive connection
is automatically engaged.
The Company believes that the J-J Hooks Barrier connection design is superior
to those of earlier highway safety barriers that were positively connected through
the "eye and pin" technique. Barriers incorporating this technique
have eyes or loops protruding from each end of the barrier, which must be aligned
during the setting process. Once set, a crew inserts pins or long bolts through
the eyes which connects and bolts the barrier sections together. Compared to
this technique, the J-J Hooks Barriers are easier and faster to install and
remove, requires a smaller crew, and eliminates the need for loose hardware
to make the connection.
In November 1990, the FHWA approved the free-standing J-J Hooks Barrier and
in December 2012 the pinned and bolted J-J Hooks for use on federally aided
highway projects following the successful completion of crash testing based
on criteria from the National Cooperative Highway Research Program and from
the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware.
J-J Hooks free-standing barrier has been approved for use on state and federally
funded projects by 42 states, plus Washington, D.C. The Company is in various
stages of the application process in additional states and believes that approval
in some of the states will be granted; however no assurance can be given that
approval will be received from any or all of the remaining states or that such
approval will result in the J-J Hooks Barrier being used in such states. In
addition, J-J Hooks Barrier has been approved by the appropriate authorities
for use in the countries of Canada (Alberta, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and
Ontario), Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany and Chile.
J-J Hooks anchored (pinned or bolted) barrier successfully passed the MASH
TL3 tests in August of 2012 and received FHWA Eligibility Letters in December
2012. Currently 21 states have approved the MASH barrier as an alternate to
their state standard. In Canada, the province of Alberta has approved the MASH
tested barrier.
Easi-Set Precast Building and Easi-Span™ Expandable Precast Building
Easi-Set Precast Buildings are transportable, prefabricated, single-story,
all concrete building designed to be adaptable to a variety of uses ranging
from housing communications operations, traffic control systems, mechanical
and electrical stations, to inventory or supply storage, restroom facilities
or kiosks. Easi-Set Precast Buildings are available in a variety of exterior
finishes and in many standard sizes, or can be custom sized. The roof and floor
of each Easi-Set Building is manufactured using the Companys patented second
generation post-tensioned system, which helps seal the buildings against moisture.
As freestanding units, the Easi-Set Buildings require no poured foundations
or footings and can be easily installed within a few hours. After installation
the buildings can be moved, if desired, and reinstalled in a new location.
The Company also offers Easi-Span™, a line of expandable precast concrete
buildings. Easi-Span™ incorporates the technology of the Easi-Set Buildings,
but are available in larger sizes and, through its modular construction, can
be combined in varied configurations to permit expansion capabilities. Since
these larger buildings have less competition from other materials and methods,
they produce higher profit margins. Both the Easi-Span and Easi-Set Buildings
offer lines of fully-outfitted restrooms with over a dozen standard models.
The Company has sold its Easi-Set and Easi-Span™ Precast Buildings for
the following uses:
Communications Operations — to house fiber optics regenerators, switching
stations and microwave transmission shelters, cellular phone sites, and cable
television repeater stations.
Government Applications — to federal, state and local authorities for
uses such as weather and pollution monitoring stations; military storage, housing
and operations; park vending enclosures; rest rooms; kiosks; traffic control
systems; school maintenance and athletic storage; airport lighting control and
transmitter housing; and law enforcement evidence and ammunition storage.
Utilities Installations — for electrical switching stations and transformer
housing, gas control shelters and valve enclosures, water and sewage pumping
stations, and storage of contaminated substances or flammable materials which
require spill containment.
Commercial and Industrial Locations — for electrical and mechanical housing,
cemetery maintenance storage, golf course vending enclosures, mechanical rooms,
rest rooms, emergency generator shelters, gate houses, automobile garages, hazardous
materials storage, food or bottle storage, animal shelters, and range houses.
Easi-Set Utility Vault
The Company produces a line of precast concrete underground utility vaults
ranging in size from 27 to 1,008 cubic feet. Each Easi-Set utility vault normally
comes with a manhole opening on the top for ingress and egress and openings
around the perimeter, in accordance with the customers specifications, to access
water and gas pipes, electrical power lines, telecommunications cables, or other
such media of transfer. The utility vaults may be used to house equipment such
as cable, telephone or traffic signal equipment, and for underground storage.
The Company also manufactures custom-built utility vaults for special needs.
SoftSound™ Soundwall Panels
SoftSound™ soundwall panels, recently developed by the Company, utilize
a “wood aggregate” sound absorptive material applied to the face
of soundwall panels, which is used to absorb highway noise. SoftSound™
is a proprietary product developed and tested by the Company and is currently
approved for use in Virginia, Maryland, seven additional states, and the provinces
of Ontario and Quebec, Canada. Approvals are pending in a number of additional
states. The Company introduced this product line into its licensing program
and is in the process of seeking to obtain approvals in all 50 states and the
Canadian Provinces.
Beach Prisms™ Erosion Control Modules
In 2006, the Company began production and launched full-scale advertising and
promotional efforts for its product, Beach Prisms™, a shoreline erosion
control product that uses the preferred natural "soft" approach as
opposed to the "hard" approach of seawalls and jetties, to solve this
worldwide problem. This product is expected to provide a higher margin than
many of the Company’s other product lines. Beach Prisms™ work by
reducing the amount of energy in incoming waves before the waves reach the shoreline.
Waves pass through the specially designed slots in the triangular 3 - 4 foot
tall by 10 foot long Beach Prisms™ modules. The success of a Beach Prisms
™ installation is dependent on the prevailing wind in relation to the
shoreline, the tides, the fetch and the availability of sand in the surf. Beach
Prisms™ are primarily for river- and bay-front property owners who want
an alternative to traditional armor stone, or groins and jetties. The Company
applied for “design protection” in the United States for the Beach
Prisms™ in 2009 and received that protection in July 2010.
The Company currently has orders and is also accepting new orders with deposits
for the Beach Prism product, and the Company is working with the states of Virginia
and Maryland to secure approval of each state’s environmental agency.
Each project must apply for approval by the appropriate state to obtain a permit
to install the Beach Prism. Such approvals are meeting resistance from the environmental
agencies, however, the Company believes approval is forthcoming. In the event
that approvals are not timely received, psnxinv odxsdz my be cancelled. In 2011,
the Company installed its first Beach Prism protection on Virginias Chesapeake
Bay shoreline.
H2Out™ Secondary Drainage System
The Company was issued a patent in February 2010 for H2Out™, the first
"in the caulk joint" secondary drainage and street level leak detection
product for panelized exterior cladding. A second line of caulking and drainage
strip located behind the exterior line of caulking exits all water leakage to
the exterior of the building preventing moisture and mold, and hence deterring
lawsuits from tenants and owners of buildings. H2Out™ has been added as
a feature of the SlenderWall™ system and is being included in the product
literature, website, and all sales presentations.
Although the Company is optimistic about the success of Beach Prisms™
and H2Out™, there can be no assurance of the commercial acceptance of
these products. The Company has its first commercial project to provide the
H2Out secondary drainage system on the recladding of an existing building using
the SlenderWall panel system.
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